I'll tell you what we don't need: to know about this! I was feeling perfectly safe and comfortable before I read the article. I don't think we should be spending all this time talking about things that happen to people. It's crazy!

I know it is extremely difficult to purchase a gun in a big city(NYC, LA, etc), almost impossible. I know a retired detective that tried to get his license renewed, and it took almost a year. Retired law enforcement have trouble getting carry licenses because of the political bull****.

I don't know the statistics, but I'd like to know the exact number of crimes(specifically armed robberies and home invasions) in big cities like NYC, LA, Boston, Detroit, and compare them to the rest of the country.

You can buy guns at pawn shops down here, even gas stations. TX, OK, LA, MS, these Southern states love their guns.

Quote:

he Memphis metropolitan area, after coming in second last year, tops this year's ranking of metro areas by the rate of violent crime -- homicide, rape, aggravated assault and robbery.

In 2006, according to crime numbers released by the FBI, the eight-county Memphis metropolitan area recorded 1,262.7 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, the highest rate in the nation.

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Last year, the Florence, S.C., metropolitan statistical area had the highest violent crime rate in the country. Memphis came in second with 1,197 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. And that was up from 1,132 in 2004.

The Memphis metro area includes Crittenden County in Arkansas, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate and Tunica counties in Mississippi, and Fayette, Shelby, Tipton counties in Tennessee.

But the people are concentrated in Memphis and Shelby County. And so far in 2007, violent crimes inside the Memphis city limits have dropped by about 7 percent, according to Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin.

Overall, the serious crimes that are reported to the FBI -- which includes both crimes against persons and property crimes -- are down this year by just over 6 percent.

Memphis-Shelby Crime Commission head Michael Heidingsfield wasn't surprised by the most recent numbers.

In fact, the poor numbers for 2005 were part of the impetus for Project Safe Community, an effort to bring all the local law enforcement and other sectors of the community together in a comprehensive crime reduction plan.

When looking at what's happening in Memphis, it's important to consider what other factors set the area apart from places with lower rates of crime, he said.

"Memphis doesn't enjoy the typical suburban affluence that other areas do, and that could set us aside," Heidingsfield explained.

"As there is re-gentrification in the inner cities, you see a change in crime rates," he said.

New York is probably the best example, where they have seen several decades of rebuilding. Violent crime, and street crime generally, are typically displaced by an influx of wealth.

Also, the numbers released by the FBI reflect only what has been reported to them by local communities.

Not all communities report the same way, despite the conversion in 2000/2001 to NIBRS (National Incident-Based Reporting System), an attempt to standardize crime reporting nationwide.

Other nearby cities didn't fare well either on the FBI numbers this year: the Little Rock metro area registered 905.5 violent crimes per 100,000; Nashville-Davidson MSA had 857.7.

Jackson, Miss., was well down the list with 456 violent crimes per 100,000.

in that particular situation, if the victim had a gun, instead of "just" assault you probably have assault + self-defense murder on your hands. and if attackers too had guns on themselves (since you advocate that everyone should have a gun to prevent violent crimes), you get assault + self-defense murder + another murder.

I vividly recall watching a Western movie and not a single person was killed by someone else with a gun. I think there was a part where this guy with a gun was playing poker and thought for a moment about cheating. Of course he remembered that everyone else also had guns, so he'd probably get shot if he tried. Funny enough, he ended up winning fair and square. Now the guy he beat sure was mad, almost mad enough to pull a gun on him, but he also remembered the other guy had a gun.

Apriorist is one of the biggest right wing nut jobs on this board. Everyone else is right, a gun in this situation would have resulted in at least one death. I'll take a broken face over a bullet anyday.

yeah im not down with guns in public. too many ****ing crazy people. however i think its ****ty that other people on the bus didnt step in and do something. its like that story about the 3 people with knifes on a plane and 100 people just hung out and didnt do ****.

also baltimore is a ****ing **** hole so it doesnt surprise me. and public transportation in ****ty neighborhoods needs to become safer. learn from toronto.

Are you retarded? The amendment states that a State has the right to have militia, and the citizens have a right to carry arms. It's not saying that only militia is allowed to carry guns.

It's saying they have a right to have guns to uphold the Militia. It's not saying you can carry guns for personal protection. It's for the security of the state. I think you're the one that's retarded.

On general principle, I would say that people should be allowed to own and carry guns for their own protection.

But in practice, it just isn't safe. There are too many morons out there that don't use good judgment.

I worked retail for 9 years and got to have a pretty good idea of the general public in the area, and the results are I live my life with the assumption that most people are morons. There are exceptions and it's nice to meet those people, but most people just have no common sense or just don't plain think before they speak/act.